


when i'm ready i will fly us out of here

by mistxy_mocha



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, I suck at tags, basically hazel is blind, blind! hazel, did i even spell that right, nicos portayal sucks, self deprecating piper, she got cursed blind when leaving the underworld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 20:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30061029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistxy_mocha/pseuds/mistxy_mocha
Summary: “I can’t see anything.”“What?” he sounded frantic. “No, no, no. I thought this might happen.”She knew, instantly, like a blow to the skull, what had happened. She lifted a hand to her face, closed her eyelids and pushed a finger against them.“I’m blind.” Her voice was as numb as Asphodel.--blind! hazel au. this took a while and it's still crappy smh.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Jason Grace & Percy J. & Hazel Levesque & Piper McLean & Leo Valdez & Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque & Piper McLean, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo & Hazel Levesque & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	when i'm ready i will fly us out of here

**Author's Note:**

> hi there! welcome to the hell house. this is an au where hazel gets cursed blind after leaving asphodel. also i wanted to highlight piper and hazel's friendship in hoh, so i did a bit at the end in piper's pov. she's a very self-deprecating character and rick didn't emphasise this, so i hope i wrote her right. enjoy ig :)
> 
> title song from 'this is home' by cavetown. i literally listen to it on repeat istg

Hazel hadn’t seen it in seventy years, but she knew the living world wasn’t supposed to be so dark.

“Nico,” she said, reaching out in front of her. “Why is it so dark?”

She felt her half-brother take her hand, and goosebumps ran over her arm at his cold touch. 

She heard him say. “It’s five in the afternoon. Hazel?”

“I can’t see anything.”

“What?” he sounded frantic. “No, no, no. I thought this might happen.”

She knew, instantly, like a blow to the skull, what had happened. She lifted a hand to her face, closed her eyelids and pushed a finger against them.

“I’m blind.” Her voice was as numb as Asphodel.“What has happened?”

“It-it’s going to be fine, okay? It’s just a small problem.” His voice rose, his footsteps becoming more erratic. “It’ll be fine. I’ll take you to the legion and you can still join. I’m sure that’ll happen.”

He sounded like the reassurances were for himself.

Hazel felt his hand pull hers softly, and her head spun. Her legs felt weak, and she could feel the blood drumming through them, as she slipped into darkness.

\-- 

Nico had shadow travelled with her to some place she didn’t know and couldn’t see.

Oh my god.

She couldn’t see.

It hit her like a brick and crushed her heart to shreds. Everything Nico had told her about, a normal life, the legion, they could all be blown into the wind like gold dust now. 

Her lungs constricted and metal flew out of the grounds. They made her feel better and worse. Worse, because of the  _ thing.  _ But better because she could sense them, easy as breathing (though she hadn’t done that in a while). 

Hazel could sense them, just know that they were there, like touch but twenty shades deeper and brighter. They felt like solid anchors in the strange blankness (even the word dark couldn’t describe it), the iron grip of her mother’s hand when they sunk to nothing in the Earth Mother’s grip.

That was the other thing— the earth. She could feel that too, though it was more like a dull knowing in her bones. She could feel Nico’s slight weight against the place as he pulled her somewhere, and the numb press of other things, buildings, she thought, and maybe...cars? They felt like little ants crawling on her skin.

“What’s that noise?” Her hearing seemed fifty times better and fifty times worse at the same 

time.

Nico’s hand slipped out of her grip. “Oh, those...cars. And people. It’s a lot noisier in the modern times.”

“Modern times.” she repeated. “Where are you taking me?”

“Let’s get something to eat.”

“Huh?” She wasn’t sure she would be allowed with Nico in a restaurant somewhere, from what she remembered she saw in Asphodel, he was white. And she couldn’t go on her own, she was blind. Some part of her that hadn’t been completely paralyzed thought about how foreign that word was to her.

“Here we are.” Hazel could hear shouts of other people, the sharp vibrations of movement across the ground and footsteps pattering in all directions. The pieces of metal she had drawn up accidentally were lying across the ground. Nico dropped her hand again.

“Wait here.” he spoke, the sound coming from somewhere next to her. “You can— you can sit on this bench. I won’t be long.” 

She lifted her head, unsure of what to say. “Thank you.” she decided finally. Nico made a noise of acknowledgement. Hazel turned her head towards his disappearing footfalls.

\--

“Hello Reyna.” The older girl looked at the two figures approaching her. “This is my sister— half-sister—Hazel. Hazel, this is Reyna Avila—”

“Praetor Reyna is enough.” she answered with a slight accent, Spanish, Hazel thought.  _ Praetor. _ Hazel hadn’t known girls could be the leader of an army. Especially coloured girls. Perhaps, even considering the accent in her voice, she was white. Hazel wasn’t sure why she was so disappointed. 

“Hazel Levesque.” Hazel could feel Reyna’s eyes scrutinizing her, and she completely lost all faith in her and Nico's plan. What if she could tell that she wasn't normal, wasn’t supposed to be here? What if she could tell Hazel was blind?

Nico’s hand tugged hers , and she tilted her head to look up, trying to force attention into her eyes. She heard Reyna sigh, more of a sigh of relenting than of regret.

“I need to discuss something with Jason. Dinner is at six.”

Her footsteps echoed away. Hazel felt the drumming of them clearly through the earth, the vibrations reverberating in the concrete pavement.

Argentum and Aurum turn their heads at her reproachfully. She hadn’t lied, but she had barely caressed the truth.

  
  
  


\--

Hazel had fallen in love with a voice.

Not just a voice, a gentle tap on her head when she zoned out, the small laugh he had lingering in the air, the small knock on her room’s door five minutes before patrol.

“Hiya Hazel!” Frank called. “I was waving to you, but you didn’t see me. She had actually, but obviously couldn't see him waving and hoped he wouldn’t notice her. She’d been avoiding him, which was hard as he was the only person who didn’t treat her like a curse.

“Hi Frank.” she said. Perhaps turning away was the best way to deal with it. 

She couldn’t get attached, she couldn’t afford to. He’d find out. Everything, not just the resurrection but her first curse and her second one.

The second one was turning out to be less of a curse and more of an anomaly though. She still felt paralysed with fear when Jason or Reyna or someone asked her to pass some blue folder, but usually Frank helped, and— 

“Earth to Hazel?” Frank laughed, tapping her gold curls. “Haha, earth, get it? Like, Pluto, underground, earth-”

“Amazing, Frank.” she said sarcastically, unable to keep a grin off her face. “Wonderful. I’m sure the god of death would love to hear puns about him. Besides, it wasn’t even a good one.”

“Hey!” Hazel could hear the pout in his voice. “My puns are ama-Zhang!”

“Okay, that was better than I could do.” she admitted. “But that first one needs some redoing.” Hazel felt a ruby materialise behind her. 

“Don’t touch it Frank,” she warned, facing it. Raising her hands upwards, she crushes her fist down hard, pushing the ruby into the earth. It flattens, then curves into an horseshoe shape and complies, forcing itself back where it came from. 

Hazel is almost proud of herself for learning so quickly. The last time Nico was here, he told her that perhaps being blind had earned her a better connection with the jewels, and the underground. Hazel thought that ‘earned’ was the wrong word. 

“Whoa,” Frank whistled. “That’s...impressive.” The word Nico had used was ‘scary’. Hazel kept both of them.

Frank took two steps till he was looking at the tiny chasm she had created. A scuffle in the grass told her he was kneeling down to look at it. If the ruby had still been there she’d have yelled at him to get away. But the confidence in her abilities held her back, and maybe she wanted his praise. Maybe she thought she could get over her curse,

“Anyways, we have an extra watch. Gwen said so.” Most of the legionnaires had extra watches since Jason’s disappearance, and they mostly fell to the Fifth-Cohort. 

“Me and you? On the watch?”  _ What a dumb thing to say, Hazel.  _

“Yeah,” he started walking towards the armoury. A Lare flitted past her, too occupied to even notice a recently-made legionnaire and a  _ probatio _ . 

The two took up their positions, facing the river Tiber. The water seemed agitated today, she could hear the urgent whisper of the waves, softly rushing back and forth.

“Do you see that?” Frank asked. 

Hazel fought back the urge to yell,  _ of course not, i’m blind you fools!  _ and instead replied “What?”

“There, in the river. I think—I think there’s a god.”

\--

_ Perseus Jackson. Son of Neptune. _

Could this be the end to her first curse? Could this be it?

Some fleeting bit of insanity had caused her to stand for him, and the small sliver of hope that this would be the beginning of something new (maybe we’ll find Jason!) and the end of her -old- life was ever present as she showed him to Octavian.

Most of the time she droned out of Octavian’s stupid position-grabbing talks, but something her said caught her off-guard.

“Hazel, when the election for praetor happens, i hope you’ll remember—” 

“Jason isn’t dead, you should know! You’re supposed to be doing your auguries for him!” she snapped. She’d endured plenty of this from him several times a week, but the prospect of change had made her excited and on-edge.

“Oh, I am!” Octavian pointed to the pile of his  _ stupid, useless _ stuffed animals. “I consult the gods every day! Alas, after eight months, i’ve found nothing. Of course, I’m still looking. But if Jason doesn’t return by the Feast of Fortuna we must act. We cannot have a power vacuum any longer. I hope you’ll support me. It would mean so much.”

Hazel felt anger burn up inside her, cold and sharp. Jewels buzzed deep in the earth but for once, she didn’t care. “Me? Support? You?”

“After all, i might be able to help you. Those rumours circulating around? Well, it’d be a shame if they turned out to be true.”

She felt her mouth drop open. Percy gave a low growl. But Octavian hadn’t finished.

“Perhaps you don’t know what rumours i’m talking about. I’m not sure whether you are able to  _ see _ the severity of the situation.”

Her blood ran cold.

\--

“I know,” said Frank. “Don’t worry Hazel, I know.”

The relief was so immense that she sagged. Of course Frank, sweet, wonderful Frank, knew. A huge weight hadn’t been lifted off her shoulders, but she felt she had a goal, a destination, to which she was carrying it towards.

\-- 

Alcyconeus was made of gold.

Hazel was the master of gold.

She closed her unusable eyes, feeling invincible, and charged.

\--

“Your firewood,” was all she said. Frank put a hand on her shoulder.

“You’re alive,” she repeated. “How are you alive?”

Thanatos stood awkwardly between them (as awkward as literal death could look) waiting. He cleared his throat.

\-- 

“Frank turned into an eagle!” Percy laughed. “And a bear!”

Hazel stamped her foot. “Of course, I should have known. You are an ancestor of Periclymenus.”

“Who was a son of Poseidon.” Frank looked at her, and Hazel could practically  _ feel  _ her curse disappearing. 

“Um, guys?” They both jumped, and Percy snorted. “The two lovebirds can sort themselves out. Me and Arion are going to have a long talk.” Her horse whinnied, and Percy remarked

“Petition to wash his mouth out with soap.”

“Signed.” came Frank’s voice. Hazel stuck her tongue out at her kind-of boyfriend.

“What?” he answered. “He hates me anyway.” 

\--

Frank’s arm was around her, shielding her from the swell of the crowd. The Feast of Fortuna was underway, and Percy was up front as the new praetor.

“Orange juice,” she said to her glass.

Frank said “I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

Hazel’s mind went into panic mode. What was he going to say? Did he not even want to-

“Did you know that Fortuna was often depicted blind?”

Hazel smiled, a huge one that made her cheeks hurt a little. “No,” she answered, smiling even wider.

\--

“Reyna,” Hazel began. “Reyna, I’ve been lying to you.”

The effect was instantaneous. Hazel heard Reyna breath catch and walk to face her. She could feel Argentum and Aurum by her side, quivering. The fact that they were made of metal might not help her if they attacked. 

“What?” Reyna’s voice was sharp. Hazel knew the praetor tried to keep her feelings on a lid, especially since Jason’s disappearance. She also knew that she liked to be in control of Camp Jupiter. Briefly wondering which side would win, she continued.

“I...can’t be in Camp Jupiter. I’m cursed. I was brought back from the dead by Nico...”

_ And I’m blind,  _ she thought. But it wasn’t the kind of thought that brought an ache to your chest and clouded your mind, it was pride.  _ I have come so far, despite being the person who people will underestimate, judge and belittle. I can do anything all the others can, and I can still be unique whilst doing it. It’s hard, no doubt it is, but I am strong, very strong, and i can overcome it. Maybe I already have. _

She was about to have the adventure of a lifetime, and she wasn’t going to let this strange burden stop her.

“...And I’m blind.”  _ There. That’s it. You’ve said it.  _ Without knowing it, a smile tugged at her lips. “I thought you might want to know, in case you want to...kick me from the legion or something.” And she was gone, running down the road to the Argo II, her golden hair shining in the wind.

\--

Hecate whispered to her, her three forms withering. “Hazel Levesque. I wondered how long it’d take you.”

She didn’t speak, didn’t dare think. “Hello, goddess Hecate.”

“You look like your mother.” Of course she did.

\--

“I’m heading north, then. And Hecate, I’m not choosing one of your paths—I’m making my own.”

Strange how much that small sentence seemed to convey.

\--

“Piper,” said a voice beside her. Piper turned and saw Hazel. She hadn’t spoken to her much since Annabeth and Percy had fallen into—no, she was not going to think about it.

The thirteen-year old’s pale gold eyes gleamed in the light, but she looked as worried as an optimist like Hazel could. Piper wondered briefly if there was something she wasn’t telling her. The thought made her feel twisted around inside, strangely useless and untrustworthy.

“I-this is a dumb thing to ask,” Hazel began. Her eyes were darting, her hands twisting with a diamond Piper had no idea she had. 

“You can ask,” Piper interjected. “I won’t judge.” she finished with a smile, realising too late Hazel couldn’t see it. 

“Could-could you pick out some clothes for me?” Hazel asked, wincing, her eyes at the floor. “Okay, you know what that was dumb so-”

“It’s fine,” Piper said. “I’ll choose something for you to wear.”  _ She trusts me she trusts me oh my god _ . “I...thanks Hazel.”

The girl looked up. “For what?”

“For being there. I don’t think we’d cope if we didn’t have each other, with-with Percy and Annabeth in  _ there _ -”

Piper didn’t finish, before Hazel wrapped her arms around her gratefully.

\--

Gaia was gone.

They had done it.

_ To storm or fire the earth must fall.  _ It had been fire. The earth had fallen, but not before Leo was taken down with it.

“Frank,” whispered Hazel, reaching for his hand. Tomorrow they’d be heading back to Camp Jupiter— to fall back into the routine that was demigod life. And she was a centurion. Frank was a praetor.

Perhaps her life wasn’t cruel or unfair. Yes, the gods sucked, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was the sky above her, the boy next to her, the life waiting for her. And she felt his grip softly on her own.

Her first curse had gone. And maybe her second hadn’t really existed at all.

**Author's Note:**

> asdfghjk this took me wayyyy to long and iT'S STILL A MESS. i hate nico's portrayal especially smh.  
> thanks to fareeza for kinda beta-ing it.  
> comment please! i love seeing them!!!!


End file.
